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Today’s blog offers the second of five tips to help you avoid the all-too-common trap of speaking more than listening when you’re giving a client presentation. Use these tips any time you are trying to influence a group of people — regardless of your role, your audience, or your time boundaries.

Tip #2: (Within the first 5 minutes) Find out what they want to hear from you. How else do you know how to best use their valuable time – and yours? Once again, a simple question will do. One I use often is, “What would have to happen in the next __ minutes/days for you to walk away saying, ‘Wow, this was really valuable’?” If you’re speaking to a room of 10 people, you can afford to solicit an answer from everyone. If you’re speaking to a room of 50, take a random sample. There is always a quick and effective way to get the information you need to tailor your pitch for maximum impact.

BONUS: Record what you hear on easel chart paper or some other medium that can be seen by the whole group. This is another way to help people feel heard. Plus you’ll want to refer back to this list later.

Next up: Tip #3 of 5.

Originally published by BossaNova Consulting Group, Inc.

Andrea Howe

As the founder of The Get Real Project, I am the steward of our vision and our service offerings, as well as a workshop leader and keynote speaker.
Above all else, I am an entrepreneur on a mission: to kick conventional business wisdom to the curb and transform how people work together as a result. I am also the co-author, with Charles H. Green, of The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook (Wiley, 2012).